Stockholm October 11, 2017 Athera Biotechnologies AB today announced that screening has started for a Phase 2a prospective, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled multicentre study to investigate the effects of treatment on arterial inflammation with PC-mAb. The study population consists of individuals with elevated levels of lipoprotein a or Lp(a), a plasma lipoprotein with high capacity to carry phosphorylcholine, PC, the pro-inflammatory target for PC-mAb.

Professor Erik Stroes of Department of Vascular Medicine at AMC Amsterdam Medical Center is Principal Investigator of the study. “We are pleased to initiate this study with PC-mAb” says Professor Stroes. “This study is very well positioned in the expected wave of new therapy developments in the inflammatory field, following the recent positive results from the large CANTOS study which was targeting the residual risk after cardiovascular events, caused by inflammation.”

“Our fully human antibody PC-mAb is designed to mimic the anti-inflammatory role of endogenous antibodies against PC and act to support the immune response to vascular inflammation challenges and thereby reduce the risk for complications” says Professor Gunnar Olsson, Chairman of the Board of Athera. “We are happy to have reached this important milestone and look forward to working with the cutting-edge science group at AMC in this study.”

The primary objective of the study is to assess the effects of PC-mAb dosing with once monthly intravenous injections on monocyte function by ex vivo testing of these cells. Secondarily the study aims to assess the functional effects on arterial inflammation in vivo and on arterial wall stiffness, as well as safety and tolerability of PC-mAb. The study sites include AMC Amsterdam Medical Center, the Netherlands, and CTC Clinical Trials Consultants in Uppsala, Sweden.